Impromptu Baby Shower

A little back story first...

When I turned 16 my mom and I were temporarily living with a wonderful family from church. It was one of those times when Mom and I were "homeless" but this sweet empty-nest couple were happy to host us until we found a more permanent living situation. The wife was sweet and when I came home from school on my birthday we had a nice dinner followed by cake. (I used to get home late from school because of cheerleading practice and yearbook.) To me, it was a perfect birthday. Nothing big and a warm meal followed by cake - even better!

A week later a "close" friend of mine said, "Oh, hey, I'm so sorry I didn't make it to your party last week." I questioned her about this party as I was not aware of anything other than the very small gathering our host family put together. Evidently, my host family mom (bless her heart for trying) had tried to plan a full-blown surprise party inviting several folks from school. No one showed up. I was truly mortified upon hearing this. My perfect sweet 16 party now became of horrible nightmare memory for many reasons - I was terribly introverted and did not like being the center of attention so had a bunch of people shown up I would have been very uneasy but even worse I was reminded of how unpopular I was that no one did show up. (Being on the varsity cheerleading squad, even as a sophmore, is NOT an instant popularity maker -despite the connotation that it would be.)

Since then, I shutter at the thought of any kind of surprise gathering relating to me. T Rex Dad knows the surest way to make me grumpy is to throw me any kind of surprise party. One, it brings back bad memories of that "sweet 16" and also, being the introvert I am, I just don't do well being the center of attention.

Fastforward about 13 years...

Before T Rex was born, my sister threw me a huge baby shower. And I mean huge. She rented a farmhouse and had it decorated with a fall harvest theme and everyone was supposed to dress up in costume. It was an amazing gathering. She is quite the entertainer - think Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffanys - world class entertainer. However, all I really needed was a small gathering of close friends and a cake with a stroke or duck on it. (You should see the cake she had made for the shower - a collage of my baby photos covered the top - very impressive.). I am truly grateful for the shower she gave me. I will never forget it. However, before everyone arrived I was in the bathroom vomiting. I blamed it on "the pregnancy" but it most likely nerve related upon hearing everyone had RSVP'd back.

With baby number two on the way, I considered whether or not to have another shower. But in reality, there is nothing I really need. We still have everything from T Rex saved and most of T Rex's newborn - 6 month clothes are neutral gender so I did not really think I needed all that much except some "girly clothes". But I was kind of sad that I would not have a "celebration" of sorts commemorating Little Girl's birth. But, thinking of being the center of attention I start to shake and nausea sets in.

Well, a couple of very dear friends did not like the idea of me not wanting a shower. And they also know I don't do surprises. So, they came up with an alternative plan...

They proposed we do a girls' night out. Since one of the other ladies was also expecting, it was going to be kind of like one last outting before the babies were born. That sounded good to me. And goodness knows, I needed one. I will sometimes go weeks without being separated from T Rex. So, the evening was scheduled - a night of sushi (cooked, of course) and pedicures. I was good with that. And it appeased them from mentioning a shower again.

The sushi was fabulous - I ate way too much. Probably twice what the two of them ate combined. Our sushi chef was kind enough to accommodate the pregnant ladies' demands. Then, they pulled out a cake and baby print plates. Evidently, they brought the shower to me! I couldn't be too grumpy as it was an intimate gathering of just the three of us and I was very content having a belly full of sushi!

Then we were off for pedicures. It was heavenly. I can probably count on one foot how many pedicures I've had in my entire life. Afterward, we sipped some tea and I opened gifts of "girly" baby clothes. Let's just say, Little Girl is going to be one well-dressed baby!

Had I known this "girls' night out" was going to be an impromptu baby shower, I would have taken some photos to document the event. I'm sure they didn't tell me because they did not want to cause me any undo nausea! However, I do have my painted toes to show that indeed the night did happen and it was not one of my many vivid dreams I enjoy while being pregnant.

Thank you, my dear friends (you know who you are). I cannot even put into words how touched I was by your gesture. It was truly the perfect evening for me and the perfect way to celebrate our little girl! You are wonderful to me!